What is Their Impact on Affordability, Inequality, Sovereignty, Productivity and Resource Allocation? Is There a Case for Publicly Provided Alternatives?

Since the 2010s, digital platforms have become an increasingly prominent feature of modern economies, reshaping markets for labour, finance, goods, services, and content. The rise of companies such as Uber illustrates just one aspect of this broader transformation. Today, a vast ecosystem of platforms underpins supply chains, retail, capital flows, workforce management, and service delivery.

These systems have introduced new efficiencies and capabilities, but they can also be complex and, at times, difficult to fully understand. Emerging research and reporting suggest they influence pricing, labour practices, user behaviour, and competitive dynamic.

This webinar will explore how these evolving digital infrastructures intersect with key economic and societal questions, from cost of living and productivity to political sentiment and market concentration.

It will also draw on ongoing research into potential alternative models for organising digital markets. What role, if any, should public policy play in shaping these systems? And are there opportunities to develop forms of market infrastructure that better balance innovation, competition, and broader societal outcomes?

Our panel includes:

• Ann Pettifor, Author and Economist
• Matthew Lesh, Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)
• Tony Curzon Price, First International Data Union (FIDU)
• Thomas Stephens, New Economics Foundation
• Moderated by Wingham Rowan, Modern Markets for All (MM4A)

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Aspen Institute UK is collaborating with Brave Starts to host a public webinar exploring how the UK can better attract, employ, and support older workers in a rapidly changing labour market.

As the UK population ages, employers and policymakers face both significant challenges and major opportunities. This 60-minute conversation will look at what it means to design work, careers, and policy frameworks that value experience, support longer working lives, and ensure older workers can thrive.

Speakers

• Professor Martin Hyde – Deputy Head of Management, University of Leicester; President, British Society of Gerontology; Editorial Lead, Journal of Global Ageing
• Tracy Riddell – Senior Programme Manager, Age Friendly Employment, Centre for Ageing Better
• Cath Sermon – Head of Public Engagement & Campaigns, Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement

The panel will be moderated by Lucy Standing – Co-Founder, Brave Starts

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This panel discussion discussed how emerging technologies, particularly AI, are reshaping the scale and impact of information threats. 

They examined Westminster and Whitehall’s current approach (including the Online Safety Act) and evaluate the policy solutions most likely to preserve information integrity – from regulation to education, to AI detection tools. 

The event featured expert insights from across journalism, academia, government and regulatory bodies. Speakers: Rich Preston, BBC News Anchor and World Affairs Reporter John Penrose MP, Former Minister Professor Sander van der Linden, Professor of Social Psychology in Society, University of Cambridge Clare Rewcastle Brown, Journalist.

The event was be moderated by Thomas Barton, Founder & CEO to Polis Analysis

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What makes an organisation thrive for a century or more? How do leaders build institutions that stand the test of time?

Join us for a thought-provoking conversation on leadership, longevity, and legacy, featuring Alex Hill, author of Centennials: The 12 Habits of Great, Enduring Organisations, and Oliver Cook, an Aspen UK Rising Leader and former Olympic rower for Team GB.

Alex’s research delves into what makes organisations resilient across generations – from sports teams to global institutions – uncovering the leadership habits that sustain long-term success. In this interactive session, Oliver will engage Alex in a discussion about these principles, drawing on his own experience in elite sports and leadership.

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This session will provide an in-depth look at India’s pioneering Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) framework, which has set a global benchmark for creating a scalable, inclusive digital ecosystem. 

Pramod Varma, along with his colleagues Sujith Nair and Siddharth Shetty—key contributors to India Stack, Beckn Protocol, and Finternet—and Gayatri Panda, a tech business enabler supporting the India-UK entrepreneurial landscape, will offer a comprehensive overview of their ground-breaking work and its impact on over 500 million citizens across India. 

Through the lens of digital identity (Aadhaar), interoperable payments (UPI), and open mobility standards (Beckn Protocol), the panellists will explore how DPI can revolutionize public service delivery, broaden economic participation, and strengthen the democratic foundation of societies. This session will be an opportunity to learn first-hand from the architects of India’s digital transformation, whose achievements offer a powerful model for digital innovation in governance worldwide. 

This event has been organised with support from the Indian Tech Society.

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Just two weeks before the people of the United States take to the polling stations to vote for their new President, Aspen UK convened an event at the United States Embassy in London to discuss the future of trust in democracy. 

The expert panel reflects on the recent elections in the UK and globally and look ahead to the critical United States Presidential election. They discuss the role of democracy in today’s society, the nature of the threats it faces and what it will take to increase trust in the democratic values shared by the United Kingdom and United States.

In this extraordinary year of more than 60 elections around the world the event assessed the extent that disinformation, misinformation and societal polarisation are affecting trust in democracy.  Our discussion highlights where democracies have proved resilient against a backdrop of economic hardship and global uncertainty and the areas where there is work to be done. The discussion is be moderated by Gordon Corera, the BBC’s Security Correspondent. The  expert panellists are Polly Curtis (Chief Executive, Demos), Sunder Katwala (Director, British Future), Vivian Schiller (Executive Director, Aspen Digital) and Tim Squirrell (Director of Communications, Institute of Strategic Dialogue). 

The podcast begins with introductory remarks from the US Embassy and Aspen UK (00.00 - 08.27). The panel discussion takes place from 08.28 - 59.01 and the audience Q&As are available to listen from from 59.01. 

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This episode explores the new report launched by the Commission on the Integration of Refugees in March 2024. A week after the launch, we discussed the key findings and policy recommendations with our expert panel of academics, community representatives and people with lived experience. How can we better support the integration of refugees in the UK? What benefits could this bring to the economy? And, what other ways could British society benefit from supporting refugee integration?

This is the final episode in our series ‘Voices from a broken system: Rethinking refugee integration in the UK’ in partnership with the Commission on the Integration of Refugees and the Woolf Institute. Our panel features Dr Edward Kessler MBE, Founder President of the Woolf Institute; Dr Magdalena Walbaum, Research Officer in Social Care at LSE and Adam Yasir, Chairperson of Croydon Refugees and New Communities Forum. This discussion is moderated by Martine Dennis, Host and Executive Producer of the Africa Here & Now podcast. 

This episode was recorded as part of a live webinar on 26 March 2024. 

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In this Rising Leaders Fellowship podcast takeover, we explore leadership in the context of young professionals working in the climate space. From career transitions to extraordinary opportunities, what does it take to build a career in climate? Who should we learn from? And, what advice would our guests give to those starting out in their climate careers?

This episode is hosted by Alex Urwin, Aspen UK Rising Leader and current Special Assistant to CEO at the Children's Investment Fund Foundation.  He is joined by Nisha Krishnan, Community Resilience Partnership Program Manager at the Asian Development Bank; Gabe Malek, Chief of Staff at Fervo Energy and Elise Larkin, Director of Global Economic Recovery at The Rockefeller Foundation.

Find out more about the Aspen UK community of leaders on our website.

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How can leaders foster a collective vision amongst their team members? How can we empower groups to stand up for what they believe in? And, what are the opportunities to drive collective action to tackle difficult problems? 

Join Aspen UK as we dive into these questions with two Rising Leaders: Flynn Devine and Katie Hutchinson. 

 Find out more about the Aspen UK community of leaders here at Aspen.org

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Can leaders make the wrong decisions? How can we lead the way even in difficult situations? And, what can conflict teach us about strong leadership?

In this episode, Penny delves into these questions with two Aspen UK Rising Leaders: Maria Romanenko and Godefroy Harito. 

Find out more about the Aspen UK community of leaders: https://www.aspenuk.org/rising-leaders-fellowship-overview/ 

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